September 4, 2018--Negative Partisanship

This weekend's series of tributes to John McCain caused me to wonder again why so many conservatives and, especially, Donald Trump feel animus toward the late senator from Arizona. 

It wasn't because he was such a maverick and voted solidly against Trump's agenda. In fact, with notable exceptions (among a few others his thumbs down vote not to repeal Obamacare) he voted for at least 90 percent of the legislation supported by Trump.

And, I recalled, Trump savaged McCain early in the 2016 campaign, well before it was known who would win the nomination. He mocked McCain for what can only be viewed as heroism during the Vietnam War, a war that Trump did all he could to dodge. Perhaps, I thought at the time, Trump was jealous of McCain's unstinting courage. Trump knew in his heart that McCain was a hero while he was a blowhard coward.

I also thought at the time, well before Trump loomed as the frontrunner, that taking on McCain in this gratuitous way would doom his changes. Candidates traditionally drop out of contention for doing a lot less. But not Trump. There is little that is political traditional about him. His people stuck with him and he rolled inexorably toward the White House.

More surprisingly, it appears that the vast majority of Republicans detest McCain and are even comfortable mocking his service.

So I continue to be puzzled about why Trump is so bulletproof. A recent article in the Washington Post, "Republicans' Anger at McCain Speaks Volumes About Tribal Politics," offers some additional insights.

From the article--

Over the past few decades, Americans have fled to the political poles, leaving fewer in the once vibrant and decisive middle. Increasingly, those partisan voters are being driven more by fear and loathing for the opposition party than admiration for their own party’s leaders--a phenomenon that political consultants call “negative partisanship.” 

Today, partisanship has a “stronger influence” on voters’ behavior than at any time since the 1950s, Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster, two Emory University political scientists, wrote recently. One result: Any act of compromise with the enemy--or opposition party--is greeted with anger and derision.

The article includes a few quotes from conservatives who hated McCain. They offer a glimpse of the intensity of their fury--

“Sorry, phony, fraud and a traitor,” Shawn Halan, a Southern California real estate agent, wrote in a social media post. “He was a pathetic egomaniac bent on fighting conservatism and did it as a pretender!” 

“Faux conservative,” added another supporter of President Trump. 

“We can admire his service in Vietnam, but also realize he was a scoundrel and backstabber as a politician,” wrote a photographer based in the New York area. “I don’t mourn.”

Negative partisanship it is.